Merger to have little impact on Mazeikiu

The merger of Russia's Yukos, majority owner of Mazeikiu Nafta (Mazeikiai Oil), and Sibneft is unlikely to have any major impact on the Lithuanian oil company, the local press said last week.

Yukos, which owns 53.7 percent of Mazeikiu Nafta, will play a leading role in the merged company.

The deal is the largest merger in Russia's corporate history.

Lietuvos Rytas quoted Mikhail Brudno, vice president of Yukos, as saying that the merger of the two companies will have no effect on the management of Mazeikiu Nafta.

The transaction is also unlikely to lead to any changes in Yukos' investment policy in Lithuania.

"This transaction will have no principal effect on our operations," Giedrius Karsokas, head of Mazeikiu Nafta's information office, was quoted as saying by Verslo Zinios.

Economy Minister Petras Cesna said that the new industrial giant resulting from this merger could step up investments in Mazeikiu Nafta.

"Logically, the companies are merging to become stronger. It will be good for Mazeikiu Nafta to have a stronger operator too," Eduardas Vilkas, head of the Institute of Economics, told Lietuvos Rytas.

Verslo Zinios quoted Vidmanas Saferis, a Hansabank Markets analyst, as saying that the transaction is unlikely to bring about any changes in Mazeikiu Nafta's operations, noting that Yukos is capable of ensuring sufficient oil supplies to the Lithuanian refinery on its own.